University of San Francisco issued a safety warning this week after multiple women reported being approached and recorded without consent by a man wearing Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses.
The individual, described as male, approached women with unwanted comments and inappropriate dating questions while wearing the glasses, which discreetly captured video footage later posted to social media accounts, according to the USF advisory. Community members identified the accounts ‘pickuplines.pov’ on TikTok and Instagram as linked to the reported incidents.
The Ray-Ban Meta glasses look identical to ordinary eyewear but contain wide-angle HD lenses capable of recording video through voice command or by pressing a small button on the frame. An LED indicator lights up during recording, but privacy experts have questioned whether this feature provides sufficient warning to people being filmed.
California law presents clear obstacles for this type of recording. The state operates under two-party consent rules in Penal Code Section 632, making it illegal to secretly record conversations without permission from everyone involved. Violating these recording laws carries fines up to $2,500 and potential jail time of one year, plus civil liability.
Meta’s data practices add another layer to privacy concerns. The company’s privacy policies for Ray-Ban Meta glasses store voice recordings triggered by ‘Hey Meta’ commands for up to one year to improve AI products. Users must manually delete these recordings, which remain on Meta’s servers otherwise.
The glasses represent a growing category of wearable recording devices that blur the line between public photography and covert surveillance. Unlike smartphones, which signal recording through visible screens and camera positioning, smart glasses capture footage from eye level without obvious visual cues beyond the small LED indicator.
USF’s warning advised community members who encountered the individual to report incidents to campus security. The university did not disclose whether it had contacted local law enforcement or if any charges had been filed in connection with the reported behavior.